Priest calls Duterte’s arrest ‘a triumph of good against evil
- biblelightspromotion
- Mar 15
- 2 min read
From the Website of CBCP
Priest calls Duterte’s arrest ‘a triumph of good against evil’
A Catholic priest known for helping families of victims of ‘drug war’ killings said Wednesday that the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte was “a triumph of good against evil.”
Fr. Flavie Villanueva of the Society of the Divine Word described it a “moral victory”, saying it signified the nation’s reckoning with the deadly anti-drug campaign that killed thousands.
“It began with a nightmare because it should not have happened in the first place. But since it did, goodwill responded, and yesterday goodwill also won,” Villanueva said.
Duterte was arrested Tuesday in Manila on a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which accuses him of crimes against humanity for his administration’s brutal war on drugs.
As of Wednesday, a chartered plane carrying the former president was en route to The Hague, Netherlands, where he will stand trial.
A day after the arrest, Villanueva led a prayer service before the inurnment of the remains of 18 more victims of extrajudicial killings at Dambana ng Paghilom, or Shrine of Healing.
The shrine, built in 2024 inside Laloma Catholic Cemetery in Caloocan City, is a project backed by the Diocese of Kalookan to serve as the final resting place for victims of extrajudicial killings.
It also provides a dignified home for the dead whose families could not afford to renew leases on their apartment-style graves.
Since its establishment, more than 70 urns have been interred at the shrine.
Villanueva urged Filipinos to reflect on the consequences of Duterte’s policies and move beyond the violence to rebuild a culture of healing.
“I just hope that people finally realize that nothing good came out of ‘Tokhang,’” he said, using the term for Duterte’s anti-drug operations.
“Instead, a culture of darkness and death prevailed. And with Duterte’s arrest, I hope we can put an end to this culture and recreate a beautiful, much better culture of caring and healing.”
CBCP Website
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